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PISCATAWAY — Rutgers coach Kyle Flood certainly has done a good job emerging out of his predecessor’s shadow, but if there was one thing Greg Schiano’s Scarlet Knights were known for it was winning bowl games.

Rutgers’ five-game bowl winning streak is tied for the national lead, and now Flood’s challenge will be to extend that mark after the Scarlet Knights on Sunday accepted a bid to play in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

“Certainly it’s a great destination not just for our football team but for our entire university and fan base. I think this will give our fans another reason to watch our team play a traditional power like Virginia Tech. I think it'll be a great challenge for us.”

Flood’s challenge won’t be easy as not only will he need to prepare for a traditional-power in Virginia Tech, the first-year skipper will need to pick up the pieces after the Scarlet Knights dropped a heartbreaking 20-17 decision to Louisville last Thursday in game that decided the Big East’s BCS bowl berth.

“Following the game we were certainly disappointed as a football program at the outcome,” said Flood, whose team finished the regular-season with a 9-3 record overall and tied for the Big East lead with Louisville, Syracuse and Cincinnati at 5-2. “But when I got a chance to see the players today they're excited at the opportunity that's ahead of us. We certainly have proven over the last seven years that our track record getting ready for these bowl games, even coming off of losses, is pretty good.

“I think the bowl season is a new season, and we've always approached it like that. It's got a little bit of a different format than the regular season, and I think our teams have done a good job of trying to focus on their opponent and finishing the season in the right way.”

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It marks the seventh postseason appearance in the last eight years for Rutgers, which can secure a 10-win season for the third time in the program’s 143-year history with a triumph over the Hokies.

“It gives our seniors an opportunity to do something that only two teams in Rutgers have done, which is get to the double-wins mark,” Flood said. “That separates your team and your year, and it puts you in a different class. Certainly great programs are defined by their 10-win seasons.”

In terms of prestige, the Russell Athletic Bowl is arguably the best postseason game Rutgers has been invited to since snapping a string of 27 consecutive years without a bowl berth in 2005. Originally named the Blockbuster Bowl, the game was played in Miami from 1999 through 2000 before moving to Orlando. It also has been named the Tangerine Bowl and the Champs Bowl, and the game has drawn 40,000-plus fans each year since 2006, including a record 68,305 last winter when Florida State and Notre Dame met.

“On behalf of Florida Citrus Sports, it is a privilege to have Rutgers University in our first Russell Athletic Bowl,” Florida Citrus Sports chairman Larry Ruffin said. “Rutgers is a well-deserving team, we look forward to hosting the Scarlet Knights and their fans and look forward to a great game.”

Virginia Tech, a longtime rival of Rutgers before defecting the Big East to join the ACC in 2004, ranked as high as 13th nationally this season, but finished 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC’s Coastal Division.

Virginia Tech, which will play in a bowl game for the 20th straight season, had to sweat out becoming bowl-eligible, needing a 29-yard field goal as time expired to defeat Virginia in the regular-season finale and improve to .500.

The Hokies are led by Frank Beamer, the winningest active coach in major college football who boasts a 215-104-2 record in 26 years in Blacksburg, Va., and a 257-127-4 mark in 32 seasons overall.

Junior defensive end James Gayle, junior linebacker Jack Tyler and junior cornerback Antone Exum were among three Hokies who earned All-ACC honors, each earning a spot on the league's second team. Gayle’s 10.0 tackles-for-loss among his 40 stops, Tyler led the team with 112 tackles, and Exum tallied 15 pass breakups and four interceptions.

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The Hokies feature one player from New Jersey on its roster: Ryan Malleck, a sophomore tight end from Point Pleasant Boro who has 17 receptions for 174 yards while starting six of the 12 games he has played in this season. An Asbury Park Press All-Shore recipient, Malleck hauled in 59 receptions for 1,152 yards and 10 touchdowns over his final two seasons for the Panthers.

“They’ve got a fine football team,” Flood said. “I’m only in the beginning stages of looking at them, but I know they have a very talented quarterback in Logan Thomas, who leads their team both in passing and in rushing. And they have a very fine defense, ranked 24th in the country.”

Rutgers and Virginia Tech will meet for the 15th time, with the Hokies owning an 11-3 record overall. The former Big East rivals squared off 12 straight years from 1992-2003, with the Scarlet Knights' only win during that span occurring on Halloween 1992, a 50-49 thriller highlighted by Bryan Fortay’s 15-yard touchdown to Chris Brantley as time expired.

The last time Rutgers faced an ACC team in the postseason was in 2008 when it defeated North Carolina State, 29-23, in the PapaJohns.com Bowl. The following year was the first and only time Rutgers played a bowl game in Florida, beating the University of Central Florida, 45-24, in the St. Petersburg Bowl.

“Orlando is a great city,” Flood said, “and a place where people go for a lot of reasons for December.”

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